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tv   Journal  KCSMMHZ  April 3, 2013 2:30pm-3:00pm PDT

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>> welcome. you are watching the "journal" live on dw. >> here's what's coming up on the show -- he lied. france has been shaken by a confession from its foreign minister, who paid cash in switzerland for decades. >> dozens killed in a suicide bombing on the courthouse in western afghanistan. >> a sharp escalation in the korean crisis after the north blocks access to the key industrial zone it shares with the south.
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france has been rocked by revelations that a former minister who was in charge of hunting down tax cheats is himself facing money laundering accusations. >> the ex-budget minister resigned from his post two weeks ago but has now admitted to having his own secret swiss bank account for decades. >> the case has put new pressure on french president francois hollande. citizens say they want to know what he knew -- if he knew what his taxes are was up to. >> the press is showing no mercy to the former budget minister. the scandal involves accusations of money laundering and tax evasion, and it is also threatening to damage the president. he came to office promising
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honesty and transparency in his government. now he is on the defensive. >> in future, we will do everything we can to prevent conflict between public and private interests and to ensure the disclosure and control of the wealth of ministers and parliamentarians. the government will introduce legislation to parliament in the coming weeks. >> on tuesday, the minister of knowledge he had owned and undeclared bank account for years, an account which now holds some 600,000 euros after denials before parliament. >> did you have a bank account in switzerland or not? >> i do not have one and i never did. >> the affair is especially embarrassing because he was the minister charged with tracking down french tax dodgers. some are already calling for
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hollande's resignation. >> with the political stakes so high in france right now, let's go to our correspondent. a politician hiding his well as french citizens face rising unemployment and austerity measures. how is the public reacting? >> you can imagine. i think the most damaging thing has just been the way he lied. he issued they're faced lie over barefaced lies. not just on the media but i and parliament towards his fellow members of parliament and indeed to the president and to members of the government. i think that is what is most shocking and damaging. people find this, of course, scandalous. it only adds to the general feeling that people have of being fed up with politicians in general, and their contempt for the political class has only
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deepened. >> hollande himself is very much a president on the roads right now. how much damage has this admission cost him? >> we will have to see, but damaging it certainly is. one accusation is that he would have been wise to deal with this earlier. there have been reports for several months. he was not made to leave office until two weeks ago when the mud started to stick. arguably, hollande should have taken a stand earlier. his defense, we can now see, is a barefaced lies. as you say, the context is so bad for president hollande, who is suffering badly in the polls. his economic policy is being castigated left, right, and center. this could add to his woes. looks like his promise to clean
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up politics has already been broken. and a decisive few weeks ahead. thanks very much. to afghanistan now where the most lethal attack in years has left at least 50 people dead and almost 100 injured. >> at least nine taliban suicide bombers attacked a government complex that included a court room in the west of the country where some of their comrades were on trial. >> the bombing took place, as we heard, in the capital of the province that borders iran. >> it took afghan forces several hours to kill the last of the insurgents in the compound. officials say the attackers wore army uniforms and arrive at an army vehicles. after two of them detonated suicide vests, the others occupied several buildings, including a court room, where a hearing for a group of taliban
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prisoners was being held. all of the attackers were killed and none of the prisoners escaped. about 100 people were reported wounded, including at least a dozen soldiers, but most of the casualties were civilians. the province has seen an increase in taliban attacks in recent months, including several that targeted the local government. >> north korea has blocked access to a key joint industrial zone with south korea. this is a sharp escalation in the crisis. south korea says it is ready to respond with military action if the safety of its citizens is threatened. >> a senior washington official has confirmed the pentagon is deploying an advanced missile defense system to the pacific to defend american bases from attack. the unit will be based in guam. >> the u.s. defense secretary
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cited a real and clear danger from north korea. >> they are among the few south korean workers to return from the industrial park. all are free to leave, but over 800 have opted to stay to keep their companies running. trucks bringing supplies have been turned back at the border, and no new workers from the south are being allowed in. it is a worrying time for company managers. >> it is not only a problem for into korean relations. it is also a risk to my business. i am very worried that things will deteriorate further, causing damage that could be hard to repair. >> i am worry. we cannot do business, and i feel anxious. it is such a waste of time. >> it is one of the last remaining points of peaceful engagement between the north and south. opened in 2004, the park is just a few kilometers inside north
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korea. it provides employment to over 50,000 workers from the north. all of the 120 companies are south korean owned. managers travel across the border every day. last year, the part produced goods with hundreds of billions of dollars. both sides benefit from the arrangement. companies from the south get a low-wage work force. the north gets a key source of hard currency. tensions have been rising on the korean peninsula for weeks. p'yongyang has pledged to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, then threatened a tax on the u.s. military base in the region. washington again vowed to protect the south. >> let me be perfectly clear here today. the united states will defend and protect ourselves and our treaty ally, the republic of korea. >> north korea last stop south
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koreans entering the complex in 2009. that ban lasted just three days. workers are hoping the stoppage this time will also prove temporary. >> time now for some business news. the imf has now confirmed it will contribute around 1 billion euros to the bailout of cyprus. >> that is about 1/10 of the overall package for the cash- strapped island nation. the largest aid payment is to come from the eu. earlier, the cypriot finance minister was sworn in at the presidential palace. he promised to fully implement the terms of the bailout. it does, however, still need to be ratified by the national parliaments of the other eurozone member states. inflation in the eurozone continues to be a concern, although the rate of increase has fallen to its lowest level in almost three years according to newly released numbers. >> consumer prices rose by 1.7% compared to the year before. it is the third month in a row
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that inflation has slowed. analysts say prices are affected by the recession and high unemployment. that inflation data has traders speculating about what the ecb might do at its policy meeting this week. our correspondent has more from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the relatively low consumer price inflation in the eurozone -- this caused a lot of speculation on the markets. what will the european central bank decide this thursday in frankfurt? will the key interest rates be lowered again? at the moment, the majority of experts here do not think that a rate cut is going to happen, but growth data out of the eurozone has been coming in weaker and weaker in recent days and weeks, so lower interest rates now could make sense. what is also going to be interesting for the markets is what mario draghi, the ecb president, will have to say
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about cyprus and if he thinks that the rescue of the cypriot banks could serve as a template or model for future operations of that kind. >> the dax lost some ground, actually, mostly due to some weaker than expected jobs data out of the united states from the private sector. the euro stocks -- stoxx 50 sharply lower. in new york, the momentum continues. the dow down by 0.6%. the bureau, however, is trading higher -- the euro. >> a heating up german economy means the need for skilled workers remains strong. there is an ongoing shortage of qualified, especially in the software, engineering, and industrial fields. >> a year ago, new legislation went into effect that is supposed to make the recognition of foreign degrees easier and help fill the gap of qualified workers. berlin has called the
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legislation a success, but one year later, it has not exactly achieved what lawmakers wanted. >> he came to germany from india. as a nurse, he was a welcome addition to the workforce because germany has a shortage of medical professionals. getting qualifications recognized was no problem under the new law, leaving time to settle in and did the new -- leaving time to settle in. >> when i first came to germany, i could not speak the language. then i did a four-month intensive language course and at the same time did an internship here. >> it is the kind of success story the government wants to see more of. critics point out that far fewer people than expected have made use of the qualifications recognition scheme. the minister says the numbers will improve. >> i think 30,000 is a very good beginning for a law that is one year old, and we are doing more
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to promote this, so word should spread even further. >> germany needs hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, and the government and business are trying to recruit them from all over the world. applicants need to have up-to- date qualifications and be ready to immediately start working. >> for more, let's turn to our correspondent at our parliamentary studios in berlin. what is behind the slow uptick since this law was passed? >> this internet portal that the government set up a year ago was aimed at immigrants who are already living in germany and who are working in jobs which -- for which they are actually overqualified. at the time, the government talked about perhaps 300,000 such people. in fact, only 30,000 have used the portal to get their qualifications recognized. the question remains, of course,
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and one can only answer it with speculation that perhaps the original estimate was a wild exaggeration. there may be all sorts of reasons. there may also be the situation that somebody comes from, say, romania, qualified as a nurse, works for a few years as a taxi driver, and then does not want to have their qualification recognized. they can earn better money, perhaps, as a taxi driver and have more say over where they organize their private lives. it is impossible, really, to analyze. >> this law has not had the intended blockbuster impact. what more needs to be done? are any other proposals on the table? >> even if the 300,000 have qualified and used the portal, it does not really address the major problem that germany needs, as you said, hundreds of thousands of new workers, so this portal is going to be extended next year to nine languages, and the focus will be
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on the international market. >> we have to leave it there. thanks. >> we are going to a short break. when we come back, we will look at the troubled peace talks between turkey and kurdish rebels. >> be sure to keep it here.
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>> welcome back. >> thanks so much for staying with us. we started with the story -- the turkish government says it has set up a commission to help shape public opinion on the peace process with kurdish militants, following a call for a cease-fire last month by the leader of the kurdistan workers party. >> he urged pkk fighters to lay down their arms and withdraw from turkish soil, but the rebels want legal protection guaranteeing that they will not be attacked during their withdrawal. it is a demand so far rejected by ankara. >> it is estimated more than 30,000 people have died in the
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armed conflict between the pkk and turkey. >> there are hundreds of faces. the true number could be many thousands. kurds arrested by the turkish police and military and never seen again. her husband was one of them. he disappeared 18 years ago. a support group in istanbul has been her lifeline. >> the endless waiting and hoping made me sick. i would not wish that on anyone. that is why we need this war to end. >> a short distance away, another wall covered with photos -- victims from the other side. turkish soldiers who died fighting the pkk. there's an association looking after families and sending food packages to those in need. her son was 21 when he died during his military service. >> one day, we got the message that he had given his life for
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his country. i will never forget it. the pain will always be there. >> after 40 years of fighting, the pkk has now declared a cease-fire. the turkish government has pledged to allow fighters free passage out of the country, an offer that not everyone has welcomed. >> those responsible for the deaths have to serve the appropriate sentence. only then can we return to a brother the coexistence. >> doubts, too, on the streets of istanbul. there have been cease-fires in the past, and little is known about the latest negotiations between the pkk and the turkish government. >> until we know what the two sides have agreed on, i am wary. >> peace is good, but i find it hard to believe that the kurds will not want more than that. >> we still have to live together in this country, so the
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violence must end. >> the cease-fire was welcomed in the turkish media, but there are warnings the peace process could fail if it is too narrow in its scope. >> there can be no peace without democracy. we need reform. kurds must have their cultural rights anchor in the constitution, and we need a dialogue involving all aspects of society. otherwise, the peace will not last. >> she was 35 when her husband disappeared. she raised all five of her children by herself. those responsible for the disappearance of her husband had never been brought to justice. >> i am happy about the cease- fire, but i still cannot trust the government. i hope they are serious about peace this time. >> relatives of the missing want peace and justice. the government is promising kurds more rights. now it must deliver. >> the czech republic became a
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european union member about a decade ago, but the eu flag has not been flying at the seat of the country's president -- that is, until today. >> the new head of state raised the flag at the prague castle in a ceremony attended by the european commission president. the gesture marks a symbolic break from his predecessor, who was openly hostile to european integration. all right, well, it is a blow to the spanish royal palace. it says it is surprised investigators have named the king's daughter as a suspect in the corruption case. >> she's been ordered to give evidence as part of a probe into her husband's business dealings. she is suspected helping someone embezzle about 5 billion euros from charitable foundations. no charges have been filed against either the princess or her husband.
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well, countries like india and china may have growth rates that europe this year can only hope for, and this year, india's growth rate is forecast at about 5%. >> believe it or not, that is considered a downturn for india. the country's prime minister is not happy with it. he says that they can get back to about 8% and that he has a plan to get there. >> the indian economy continues to expand but not as fast as many would like. for several years, the country's growth was approaching double digits, but now, it has declined to or around 5%, its slowest pace in a decade. that is not enough for the prime minister, who criticized his country's problems a year ahead of parliamentary elections. >> corruption is a problem. democratic in their ship is a problem. managing coalitions are a
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problem. damage to kickstart the economy, the government wants to remove stumbling blocks to growth. the prime minister says india is making progress on the regulation, particularly in sectors led by foreign companies. he also wants india to become better integrated into the global production network. >> civil aviation and other areas are important. we are reviewing the foreign direct investment policy comprehensively to see what more can be done. >> the government is also accelerating the launch of long- stalled infrastructure projects, including new roads, railways, and the expansion of the power grid. >> still to come, it was a big night of european soccer in the champions league. all that action coming up in a moment. >> first, a look at other
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stories making the headlines. israel has carried out air strikes on the gaza strip for the first time in five months. there are no reports of injuries. the israeli military says it was responding to rocket fire from gaza. earlier, palestinians fired two rockets as southern israel in retaliation for the death of an activist in an israeli jail. >> in argentina, over 40 people have been killed by flash flooding after days of torrential rain. hardest-hit by the downpour was la plata in buenos aires province, where thousands were forced to flee their homes. >> italian police have seized assets was 1.3 billion euros, the biggest confiscation in history from a single mafia suspect. he is a suspected front man. he's accused of using italy's
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renewable energy sector to launder money for a number of mafia bosses. soccer news now, and the champions league has moved into the quarter final phase. >> bayern munich faced off against a mighty upon and in the first leg of their quarterfinal clash. >> the of -- the bavarian got off to a very good start. >> there were only 26 seconds on the clock when bayern went ahead. the home team dominated. thomas muller wrapped up the scoring with just over an hour played. >> you cannot just push a button and turn on the magic, but you could tell this was an important match for us, and that is the way we performed. you cannot do that every game, but we will have to do it all again next week.
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>> we put in a super performance, possibly the best this season. we scored a few more at the weekend, but tactically, this was way up there, and with a performance to match. the players deserve a big compliment. >> a perfect performance foiled only by a groin injury to the midfielder, who will miss the rest of the season. >> in tuesday evening's other clash, a draw with barcelona and madrid. >> with the score tied up, the last 10 minutes saw a flurry of action. barker not in a strong position to advance, but two players suffered injuries that will see them sidelined for weeks. in germany, berlin sought a bomb alert today that sent commuters scattering. rail workers found a 100 kg
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bomb from world war ii near the capital of's main train station. >> residents were evacuated before disposal experts defused the device. there are some 3000 unexploded bombs buried in the german capital, and even though they are more than 70 years old, they are still very lethal. >> police erected a large security cordon around the side before calling in bomb disposal experts defused the device. unexploded bombs are a common problem for people in the german capital. >> construction work is taking place at the moment. in berlin, it is usual before any such work starts to check the site for world war ii bombs, and we found one here and secured the site. >> the main railway station stayed open, and a number of regional and long-distance trains were diverted, causing some disruption for passengers. about 800 people living close to the station were told to leave their homes until the bomb had
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been made safe. police used loudspeakers to tell residents to move at least 300 meters away. it took the experts around 30 minutes to diffuse the unexploded bomb. they use a remote device to remove the detonator before giving the all clear. >> not all that unusual here in berlin. let's recap some of our top stories at this hour. france's president has promised to clean up corruption in his government after a former minister admitted to having a secret swiss bank account. >> the u.s. is set to deploy patriot missiles to the pacific island of guam in response to threats from north korea. keep it here. >> bye bye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--
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